1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to image forming devices and more particularly to sealing ribs for a developer unit of a dual component development electrophotographic image forming device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dual component development electrophotographic image forming devices include one or more reservoirs that store a mixture of toner and magnetic carrier beads (the “developer mix”). Toner is electrostatically attracted to the carrier beads as a result of triboelectric interaction between the toner and the carrier beads. A magnetic roll includes a stationary core having one or more permanent magnets and a sleeve that rotates around the core. The magnetic roll attracts the carrier beads in the reservoir having toner thereon to the outer surface of the sleeve through the use of magnetic fields from the core. The developer mix forms chains that extend from the outer surface of the sleeve along the magnetic field lines of the permanent magnet(s). A photoconductive drum in close proximity to the sleeve of the magnetic roll is charged by a charge roll to a predetermined voltage and a laser selectively discharges areas on the surface of the photoconductive drum to form a latent image on the surface of the photoconductive drum. The sleeve is electrically biased to facilitate the transfer of toner from the chains of developer mix on the outer surface of the sleeve to the discharged areas on the surface of the photoconductive drum forming a toner image on the surface of the photoconductive drum. The photoconductive drum then transfers the toner image, directly or indirectly, to a media sheet forming a printed image on the media sheet.
The outer surface of the sleeve of the magnetic roll is spaced from an inner surface of a housing that supports the magnetic roll so that the housing does not interfere with the transport of the chains of developer mix by the rotating sleeve. However, if the housing is dropped during shipping or handling, developer mix may tend to leak out of the housing through gaps between the sleeve and the housing. Accordingly, sealing of gaps between the sleeve and the housing is desired.